House Democrats resumed voting in support of bills this week after voting “no” against all bills put up for a vote last week.

Democrats were protesting the Hastert Rule, which requires a bill sponsored by a legislator of the minority party to get a majority of the majority’s support of the bill before it’s read in the chamber. The rule is named after former Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert, who imposed this unofficial practice from 1999 to 2007.

House Minority Leader Andrés Cano, D-Tucson, said in a Feb. 28 news release that Democrats would vote “no” on any bills until the legislative process was “once again deliberative and representative.”

On March 8, Cano said he didn’t consider the action as a protest, but a matter of “equity and principle.” He said there was no deal struck with Republicans on the issue but called for greater representation of his caucus’ bills that are voted on. He also noted several Democrat-sponsored bills were put up for a vote that week and not all of them had 16 of the 31 Republicans in the House voting for them.

“The votes by themselves are telling us a story of confusion which is – do (Republicans) want to work with us or do (they) not want to work with us?” Cano said.

Reps. Jennifer Longdon, D-Phoenix; Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson; and Amish Shah, D-Phoenix, were among the Democratic members who got bills through the House without 16 Republican votes. HB2499, sponsored by Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, passed the House on March 8 with 18 Republican votes against it.

Gress’ bill would create a program administered by the Arizona Department of Economic Security that establishes a tier system for people who no longer qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Gress said the bill gives families reduced relief without cutting off people from any government assistance after receiving a minimal amount of increase in income that takes them off SNAP.

In a Feb. 28 tweet, Rep. Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert, acknowledged that some Republican bills get a floor vote without 16 votes.

“And some Republican bills mistakenly got out without 16. Does that mean we’re giving the Dems an advantage we don’t have,” Grantham wrote in the tweet.

House Republican Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu City, said on March 9 that the protest was done over a “misunderstanding” and there was no time to talk about the issue before bills were put up for a vote.

“We finally had that conversation with them,” Biasiucci said. “We ironed that out and now that’s why (bills) are going up again. We realized that there’s good bills on both sides that we can vote up and get out of here.”

Other Republicans jumped on the opportunity to call out Democrats for voting against bills they viewed as noncontroversial last week. Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, criticized her seatmate Rep. Keith Seaman, D-Casa Grande, when he voted against one of her bills to build irrigation infrastructure in their district.

“And to add insult to injury, Mr. Seaman choose (sic) party politics over his constituents in casa grande and maricopa,” Martinez wrote in a Feb. 28 tweet.

Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, told the Arizona Capitol Times last week that the Hastert Rule applies in the Senate also. Only two Democrat sponsored bills have made it out of the Senate by March 9, and both had overwhelming bipartisan support.

Longtime Capitol lobbyist Barry Aarons said hours before Democrats started voting “yes” on bills again that he didn’t expect the protest to go on much longer. He noted a Legislature’s minority caucus doesn’t have many options at its disposal.

“The only thing the minority caucus can do, regardless of party, is to obstruct,” Aarons said.

That seems to be the plan concerning the budget, Cano said. Gov. Katie Hobbs has already vetoed a “skinny” budget package that Democrats criticized as having no input from legislative Democrats.

“If the Republicans think that they will be able to not have us be a part of those strategic conversations then they’re in for a rude awakening,” Cano said. “We’ve got the Ninth Floor and we’ve got an ability to negotiate a good, bipartisan budget. It’s time for the GOP to come to the middle.”